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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-04-10 Town Forest Committee Minutes ss .Irving Dickey will check on the plagne ,which was authorized at our meeting on December 20, 1973, to be given to James S. Perry . The meeting was adjourned at 9 :45 A.M. March 22 , .1976 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TOWN FOREST COMMITTEE. To the Citizens of Reading: We submit our report for the year 1975, and through the current date . The Forest has been used by individual and family groups for hiking and nature study. St .Agnes Parish held a "Folk Mass" and a family picnic on a Sunday afternoon for about one hundred parishoners. A group of about thirjry young people from the same parish took a bicycle trip through the Forest . Boy Scouts continued to camp and hike in the Forest throughout the year, and carry out their Good Turns by doing various conservation projects. Our Committee has cooperated with the Selectmen 's Planning Staff, by giving them information about the various parcels of land which make up the Forest . Vandalism, which has been a great problem in recent years has been reduces now that the entrance to the Pumping Station Area has been protected by a chain link fence. Respectfully submitted , George B. Perry, Chairman Irving E. Dickey, Vice Chairman Benjamin E. Nichols ,Seoretary April 10, 1976 10;00 AM Town Building Parking Lot A formal posted meeting was held . Members present : George B. Perry, Chairman Benjamin E. Nichols , Secretary Visitors present : Wayne Habel Frederic Neumann Robert Shannon 69 The secretary 's report for the meeting held on November 29 , 1975 was read and accepted. It was voted to confirm the acts of the Town Forest Committee regarding the possible acquisition of land of Cheater A. Ellison, which is adjacent to the present Town Forest . This land is shown on Assessors ' Plat 221, Lots 4, 5 and 6. There is an article in the Warrant for the next Annual Town Meeting to vote on the acquisition of this land. Chester A. Ellison has given the Committee a signed sales agreement at a price of $1,000.00 per acre for approximately 8.8 acres. The Committee is committed for the following expenses : 1. Opinion of Value by William Dolben & Some 0125 .00 2, maps for filing and bearings for the Town Meeting Motion. Cost not known at present . 3. Legal and filing fees. Cost not known at present . The saplings voted in the last meeting have been ordered , but the actual order now covers 250 Norway Red Pine and 250 Spanish Scotch Pine, as the supplier does not have any Hemlock available . The printing of the 1000 maps of the Town Forest voted at the last meeting has been delayed until the Committee learns if the land of Chester A. Ellison will be added to the Town Forest by vote of Town Meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 10:07 A.M. May 10, 1976 At the adjourned Annual Town Meeting on May 10, 1976 under Article. 42, the town meeting members voted 139 to 17 to purchase 8.827 acres of land from Chester A. Ellison to be added to the TownForest . Article 42 called for the sum of 49,000.00 to be transferred from the "Sale of Real Estate" account . Thus, this amount diff not come from the current ' tax structure . This land appears on Assessors' Plat 221 , Lots 4, 5 and 6. Chester A.Ellison had given the Town Forest Committee a signed sales agreement , but for legal reaeons the land was taken by eminent domain. The Town Meeting was finally adjourned on May 2S, 1976 and the Selectmen signed the Order of Taking on June 7 , 1976, which is within the legal time for signing. The Order of Taking was filed at the Southern Middlesex Registry of Deeds on June 11, 1976, and appears in Book 12992 Page 451. I